Welcome!

I’m a radio and print freelance journalist based in Oakland, California. I am the creator and host of the podcast How Wild, about wilderness, how it’s changing, and what that says about us as humans. The podcast was produced in partnership with KALW Public Media, distributed by NPR, and supported by California Humanities

My work has been featured by many outlets including High Country News, NPR, Latino USA, Reveal, The California Report, and Bay Nature. I’m especially interested in science and environmental stories that explore not just the science itself, but the narratives, history, and values that shape how we interpret the science and make environmental decisions.

I’ve been a part of many wonderful fellowships including the Scripps Fellowship at CU Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism, the UC Berkeley 11th Hour Food and Farming Journalism fellowship, and the USC Annenberg Health Journalism fellowship. The Northern California Society for Professional Journalists has honored me with awards in long-form and science reporting; a 2019 Public Interest Award for a series I co-reported about childhood lead poisoning; and the 2020 “Emerging Journalist” award.

I’m also an editor for KALW Public Media in San Francisco, where I’m proud to work with KALW’s many training programs, including our nine-month Audio Academy professional audio journalism program. I’ve taught radio journalism to high school students, adults incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, and career-changing professionals.

I came to journalism after a decade of experience in science and teaching. I’ve had some great jobs, from working as a whale tour guide on trips to San Francisco’s Farallon islands to conducting bird surveys in Alaska’s  Tongass National Forest while armed with a grizzly bear rifle. I draw on my former work as a field biologist and naturalist in National Parks and Forests in my reporting on public lands.

In addition to being a journalist, I’m a daughter, sister, godparent, friend, backpacker, birder, and a voracious crossword do-er. I live at the intersection of many identities and I believe these intersections inform my work.

Selected Print

As the Gila Wilderness turns 100, the Wilderness Act is still a living law
Wilderness areas are changing in profound ways, and so are our ideas about them.High Country News. June 1, 2024.

In Colorado, a storied valley blooms again
The San Luis Valley’s Acequia Institute is raising new traditions from multicultural roots.High Country News. October 31, 2022.

Acorn woodpecker in five acts
A tragicomedy of avian proportions.Bay Nature. September 16, 2019.

Animals can recover from fire
But can they adjust to the progressively changing landscape?Bay Nature. June 23, 2021.

Selected Audio

Untrammeled: How a plan to replant giant sequoias unearths big questions about the meaning of wilderness
As human-caused climate change and severe fires impact the wilderness, how much should humans intervene to restore “natural” conditions? KALW. July 24, 2023.

Backpacking in the age of smartphones
Smartphones are making the wilderness easier to access, but no longer a place to unplug.KALW. October 28, 2019.

Did social media invent the ‘super bloom’?
The hype may feel new, but Californians have been excited about wildflowers for a long time. KALW. April 18, 2019.

Operation Pest Patrol
A three-part series on the history and impact of U.S. invasive insect policies, and their eerie parallels with immigration policies.KALW. December 17, 2018.